Strung Along
by Phantom Shyraz
Summary: (Poirot Cafe Prompt Exchange) One of the more well known talents of Hattori Heiji is his inexplicable ability to somehow sense when something was wrong. But what about that other, not-so-supernatural talent, a more normal and necessary talent (and no, getting into trouble is not a talent). -ONE SHOT-


Disclaimer: The works of Detective Conan belongs to Gosho Aoyama-sensei.

A/N: It seems the new movie was a great inspiration this time. Hei-chan appearing in so many of these oneshots. I don't write him a lot so hopefully I do him justice. Also, pardon his accent.

Prompt: Hattori Heiji's secret talent

* * *

"Hey Kudo!" Heiji shouted over the phone as he sat on the desk chair. "How's it goin' over there?"

" _Hattori, I swear it's a talent of yours to annoy me at the worst of times._ " Kudo, or more specifically Edogawa Conan, grumbled over the telephone line. His voice was hoarse and scratchy.

"What's the ma'ter? Ya sick or somethin'?" In his mind, Heiji was already planning a trip down to Tokyo for the weekend. He had only meant to call to see whether Kudo had heard anything about the recent bout of serial killings around the whole of Japan.

" _Gee, I wonder what gave it away._ " The sarcastic reply was followed by several dry coughs and a gulp of water.

"No need to be sarcastic ya know. Jus' wonderin' that's all." Heiji felt slightly bad at agitating the voice on the other hand. By the sound of the cough and the voice, it seems Kudo was having a bad case of flu. "Ya immune system's really messed up."

" _Tell me about it._ " Kudo sighed. " _So why are you calling?_ "

Thinking that the shrunken detective could use the mental exercise, Heiji asked. "Have you heard about the recent killings?"

" _The Organisation's behind those. Don't mess with it._ " Kudo warned. Heiji felt he had been left out of the loop.

"Whaddya mean? YA KNEW?!" He could not believe Kudo would not brief him on something so important. "Ya hidin' this from me aren't ya? I could'ave helped ya know!"

" _I only know because Jodie-sensei informed me about it. I wasn't there, or more specifically Kogoro-occhan wasn't there, when those killings happened and I haven't even been out of the house for the past week to stumble across anything other than into a bed, let alone these crimes._ " This time, the coughs sounded wetter and Heiji winced.

"Oi Kudo, are ya sure ya alrigh'?" Concerned, Heiji frowned as he tapped impatiently on the desk. He saw a stray thread from his sleeves and brought his whole arm up. Sure enough, the threads of the hem was coming undone. 'Pro'ly from the last case with the escapin' killer. He did pull at my arms when tryin' to escape. Need to do somethin' 'bout it...'

" _I'm fine…_ " Though to Heiji's ears, it didn't sound fine. " _Just a little flu virus that's circling around Beika. Nothing too serious._ "

When Kudo says it was nothing serious, Heiji could bet that something was up. His gut was telling him that Kudo was not only hiding something important, but also trying to keep Heiji out of Tokyo. There was only one reason for that.

"Ya' gonna be bringin' The Organisation down aren't ya." It was more of a statement than a question. Heiji knew full when what the Eastern Detective would be doing and this so-called flu was just preparation for something major. "The little nee-san found ya a cure didn't she."

" _Why did I even bother trying…_ " Kudo mumbled softly, probably thinking Heiji could not hear him. Heiji did not bother to hold back the smirk. " _You and your gut feelings. Always right to a certain extent…_ "

"It comes with the job ya know. I'm sure ya the same." He thought for a while before letting out an indignant squawk. "Hey! Are ya callin' me brash?"

" _No such thing Hattori._ "

"And don't ya try to avoid the topic either!" Heiji sensed Kudo was only trying to redirect the conversation to something other than the (probably) upcoming showdown. "What're ya plannin' with the FBI people?"

" _Not a clue._ " The sudden crispness of the voice told Hattori Kudo was desperate to push him away. Heiji was having none of that. He was not about to let his best bud to go bring down a supervillain with only a handful of agents. Heiji can easily offer an extra pair of hands and eyes to keep the trouble-prone detective safe.

"Ya not stallin' me with somethin' like that so try again. But I'm guessin' ya have somethin' hashed out with the FBI so I guess it's more accurate to ask, when's the operation?"

" _Seriously Hattori. Don't involve yourself in it this time._ " Kudo managed to put a stern tone through his child voice. For a split second, Heiji would obey. That was until his gut told him he should not relent so easily.

"If ya ain't tellin' me, I'm comin' down this instant and force it out'a ya. If ya know what's best for ya, bet'er start talkin'." He tapped at the desk impatiently. He shouldered his phone as he began packing a small bag for a short trip.

" _You of all people know it's not something I can talk about over the phone._ " Kudo sighed in exasperation.

"O'course I know, which is why I'm gonna be down in Tokyo as soon as I'm packed. Expect be to be bangin' at the doors before midnight Kudo." He took out several changes of clothes, noting the various wear and tear. The pair of jeans he picked up seemed to have suffered a rather harrowing experience as there were quite a few rips. Same with the shirt he picked up, and the two pairs of socks. He briefly wondered when was the last time he cleaned his closet.

" _Don't go to the agency. Go straight to the mansion if you're really coming down._ " He warned, sounding resigned. Heiji was grateful that the Eastern Detective decided not to argue with him on this. With the current state of things, Kudo needed all the help he can get.

"See. That wasn't so bad now was it?" Heiji took the various pieces of clothing to the bed before rummaging around the bottom drawer of the desk. "Though I'm curious why ya back at the mansion when ya last said that agent was livin' there to keep an eye on somethin'."

After a rather poignant pause, Kudo sighed and relented. " _Edogawa Fumiyo decided to come back to pick up Conan for a trip. But Conan just happened to catch an inconvenient cold. The Kudo's offered their mansion for them to stay until Conan recovers._ "

"An' when would that be?" Heiji pulled out a rather plain metallic biscuit tin from underneath the piles of paper clippings and various used notebooks that he kept over the years for his cases. All of the notebooks contained writeups of the case details, from statements to conclusions, and the various bits of evidence he finds over the course of the case.

" _Sometime in the next 24 hours I believe. Haibara mentioned she was only running the compatibility tests as she was quite certain of the success of the cure._ "

"But ya still gettin' the flu." Heiji remembered everytime Kudo changed back to his teenage self, he had been under some kind of flu virus. It was worrying Heiji that the only possibility for his Eastern counterpart to regain his rightful body was through an antidote with a virus trigger. 'That's just bad for the body, wonder what types of repercussion he'll face...

" _Just as an extra bit of precaution. Both Haibara and I agree that with my immune compromised, there's a higher chance of me surviving the antidote._ "

"Are ya sure ya shoul'be riskin' ya life for a pill?" Heiji paused mid-action. He rested his hands on the sides of tin, not bothering to lift it up. He had a really bad feeling. "Ya can't even guarantee ya'll actually turn back."

" _Haibara said the possibility is high. At least a higher chance than me surviving without taking the antidote. Apparently, the APTX was just slow to work on us._ "

"So the little nee-chan is takin' the pill as well?"

" _Unfortunately. She'd prefer to stay as a child but it seems she had to face her reality._ " There was a trace of pity in his voice, mimicked by Heiji as well as he returned the same sentiment. He could see why the little nee-chan would want to stay as a child. It was only as a child that she could throw away the dark history and leave the sadness behind.

"I don't envy either of ya, just so ya know."

" _Yea, I thought you might._ " The moment of silence was comfortable between them as Heiji lifted the lid of the tin. He brought out the various contents, laying them out on the bed and matching spools of threads to the pieces of clothing that needed his attention. " _Well, I'll make a note to tell people you'll be here tonight. We're not starting anything right now anyways. It really depends on whether or not I survive this._ "

"Ya'll survive. I'm sure." Heiji knew how stubborn a detective can be as he was equally stubborn, and his Eastern counterpart was even more so. Otherwise, he would have been dead ages ago.

" _Such conviction_." Hints of fondness seeped through the speaker that caused Heiji to chuckle. " _I'll see you later today then._ "

"Yea. Don't wait up though. Li'l boys need their sleep."

" _Hey!..._ " But before Kudo could get the last word in, Heiji laugh loudly into the speaker, effectively drowning out any possible curse, and hung up the phone.

Placing the phone back into the charger, Heiji picked up the first garment to examine the extent of damage. He reached for the needle and began threading the line through the eye. It did not take long before the rather ugly hole was mend with a scrap of cloth offcut from one of his unsalvageable shirts. It looked rather decent if he say so himself. He then reached for a his next piece and slowly worked through each of the holes and cut.

"Heiji!" The sudden banging of the door startled Heiji out of his trance-like state.

"AHOU! D'ya know how to knock woman?!" Heiji had unfortunately pricked his finger with the needle, drawing a small drop of blood.

"What're ya doin'?" Kazuha looked incredulously at the small pile of clothing to the side.

"Mendin' clothes o'course. Are ya blind?" Heiji waved the needle in front of him.

"With ya clumsy hands? I thought Shizuka-san does those for ya." Kazuha picked up the top-most piece, which happened to be a shirt with two patches at the elbows. Both of those were recent additions as one of the sleeves were torn enough to need an extra piece of cloth added to it. It would look strange for the shirt to be mismatch so Heiji made extra adjustments to the other sleeve as well. Kazuha examined the stitches with a professional eye. "I can't believe ya did this. They're too neat for ya hands!"

"I'll take that as a compliment." Heiji forcefully took the shirt off Kazuha's hands. "And really, Oka'n doin' this? Ya can't be serious. She'd be rippin' the clothes to shreds." Heiji had nothing against his mother, she actually does know how to do a lot of the housework. Cooking, cleaning, taking care of his father and himself. But when it comes to clothes, the last time Heiji handed her his ripped uniform jacket had turned to be a disaster. What had originally looked like a jacket turned out to be something born out of a rather artistic cat.

"I'm sure Shizuka-san isn't that bad…"

"No, she's worst. Ya remember a year ago? Durin' winter?" Heiji finished the last few stitches of the seam before tucking the needle back into the thread spool.

Kazuha walked closer and helped Heiji pack everything into the tin. "Ya mean the time when ya took a week off?"

"Yea." Heiji did not make any move to stop her. Rather, he let her put everything back into its rightful place inside the tin as he folded up the shirts and jeans.

"Wasn't it because ya were solvin' a case or somethin'?" She looked up with creases in her brow.

"O'course there was that. But more importantly…" Heiji hopped off the bed before rummaging around the back of his closet before producing a lump of black.

"What's that?" Kazuha walked over cautiously. She leaned down to peer around the sides of the black lump before poking it carefully with her finger.

"That," he gestured, "used to be the winter uniform jacket."

"What? Ya jokin'." Kazuha reached out before trying to straighten out the black lump. "What 'appened?"

"Oka'n happened that's what. The first two days were really me goin' on a case. But then, somehow, during the capture the culprit tore a few buttons of my uniform jacket. I came home to have oka'n mend it for me. The next morning, oka'n said she helped me take a couple'a days off." Heiji watched as Kazuha struggled to untangle what looks like shreds of black cloth and trimmings. Normally, something like this would have been thrown out but it had become essential to Heiji. Especially when his mother would offer to mend his clothes everytime she sees a tear. He would then take this piece of _artwork_ back to his mother and show it to her. It was the only method of having her back away from trying to mess with his clothes. "Apparently, she tried to mend it. Ended up sewin' the whole o'the front side of the jacket together. Then, as she tries to cut the threads apart, she made a few cuts into the jacket itself. One thing led to another and it ended up like somethin' a cat coughed up. Since it's impossible for me to go to school wearing somethin' like that, oka'n called the school to grant me a few extra days..."

"But at what cost though? I remember ya havin' to stay after school for a full week."

"That's 'cause I had'ta do the extra tests and whatnots." Hattori sighed as he gathered up the tattered remains of the jacket, pushing them back into the dark corner of the closet. "Strange thing is, oyaji agreed with her. He actually patted me on my shoulders, givin' me that pityin' look for the whole week."

"So ya took it upon ya'self to learn sewin'."

"Oka'n is great at everythin' else but this. I swear that's just not right…" He muttered, walking back to his pile of clothes on the bed and began folding them. Kazuha helped on the side and they worked in silence.

Only when Heiji placed the articles of clothes inside the shoulder bag did Kazuha finally voice her question. "Where're ya plannin' to go?"

"Ya not comin' with Kazuha." But the determined look on her face said there better be a good explanation otherwise she would be coming whether he liked it or not. Sighing, Heiji said "the client said to come alone." He pushed Kazuha towards the door, hands snagging on the cap hanging on the stand by the doorway. "Ya stayin' here."

"But what if it's dangerous? Or if it's a trap?" Kazuha continued to try and dig her feet into the floor, head turning around to address Heiji. But Heiji had the advantage of height and strength and he easily pushed the girl towards the kitchens.

"It's fine. I know the client and I have complete trust in 'im." Heiji leaned to the side and addressed his mother. "Oka'n I'm not eatin' dinner. An emergency case came up and I'm leavin' now. Make sure Kazuha won't follow me!"

Quickly, he walked out of the kitchens and shut the door in place before Kazuha had even recovered from being shoved into a room. He then went over to grab a nearby chair, the one placed close to the landline used for talking on the phone, and used it to block the kitchen exit. His father would be back soon and he could easily let them out then. It would buy him extra time.

Making sure he had everything, he rolled his motorbike out of the gates and started up the engine. Kazuha was leaning halfway out of the window as she shout "Come Back 'ere!" but Heiji ignored her. In the background, Heiji heard his mother trying to placate the girl.

"Women…" He shook his head as he ramped up gas and turned towards the expressway bound for Tokyo.

 **-END-**


End file.
